GAY GAMES

[automagic]

Hey everyone
I was just wondering if anyone from appliancevile was going to be coming to Chicago for the gay games
If so where are you staying? What are you doing? Need any good recommendations for dinner or bar hopping or a cute tour guide ;-
Talk to you late
Donni

 

[Unimatic1140]

OK We're Starting Over

Well thank you Donnie, that is so kind of you to offer everyone. If you take any pictures at the games we would love to see some posted here. Hope you guys have a great time, I so wish I could go as well.

 

[frigilux]

I heard a great interview on NPR today with a woman who described herself as a former "245-lb. couch potato" who got into shape and entered herself in two figure skating events at the Gay Games. She was very articulate, funny, and realistic about her skills ("I can skate forward and backward and do little hops") but she was SO pumped about having the chance to take part in the games.

It was one of those stories that makes you feel good about the people on this planet.

And definitely take some pics and post them, Donnie and co.!

 

[retromom]

Let's get physical!!

Let me tell you something...getting physical is fun, and more of us should do it!! You don't have to be a professional athlete to play softball, golf, swim, or run.

I am always encouraged by those that participate in competitions because practicing for it can be so darned difficult!! I think everyone from the very small to the very old should get off that couch and lift some weights, take up a sport, martial art, or form of dance. These things work your body and your mind. The bonuses...better health and self-confidence to name a few.

Have fun at the games Donnie, and good luck to all of the participants! You never did say if you were competing in an event. Well...do tell!!

Enjoy -

Venus

 

[hoover1060]

you go robert!

Nice to start over!

I tried to get tickets to the opening ceremony tonight, they were $100 apiece!

 

[scott55405]

Though I haven't met him, I can vouch for the fact that this tour guide is super cute! He's smart too 'cuz he just celebrated a graduation from college not long ago.

I hope the Gay Games is a wonderful event, and taking place in a great city. Donnie if you or anyone goes I hope you will report back to us about the experience!

 

[dalangdon]

Have fun Donnie!

I love Chicago (John is from the southside, so I've been there many times), and I think the Gay games sound like an awful lot of fun, but I'm a sucker for any sort of big civic event. It's just fun to be a resident of a town where something huge is going on, what with the crowds of tourists and everything.

I even enjoyed the WTO here in Seattle, even though my participation consisted soley of having my briefcase searched every morning on the way to work, and being tear gassed from the convenience of my own home (Remember the footage of all the riots? My apartment was a block away. Lucky me!

We have Seafair, which coincides with "Fleet Week" coming up here in a few weeks. The town will be filled with sailors, the Blue Angels will be here, there's a huge parade, and there will be hydroplane races on Lake Washington. It one of the most fun weeks of the year

Enjoy the games!

 

[paulg]

The GAYMES opening event

Hello gang!
The "Gaymes" opening event was just terrific. Even I was skeptical that it would be well attended. Boy was I surprised that about 10000 athletes from 65 countries were be in attendance. When the athletes and patrons took their seats, Soldier Field was about 2/3 full. My gosh.
The energy was great, and the stadium was warm with breezes off the lake. Mayor Daley had a superb speech where he reiterated the fact that Chicago prides itself on its diversity and everyone - Gay and Straight alike are welcome in Chicago anytime.
I've always loved Chicago and its diversity is one of the things I love best. The Gaymes opening event really brought it to fore.
The fact that athletes from as far as Uganda, Botswana attended really showed the impact of this event.
There was some nice celebrity attendance (ex: Megan Mulally and Margaret Cho). And at the end the stadium was ringed in fireworks of the Rainbow Flag. Holy cow!
Chicago's Gay community is the first (or among the first) to actually have area of the town presented to them to officially call their own. I suppose that was Daley's gift to the community. I'm glad the visitors and participants of the Gaymes will be able to experience this and see what Chicago is really about (certainly INCLUSION and PRIDE).
Sorry - no pictures from me. But I hope to hear from others (who might have pix).

 

[frigilux]

Thanks for the update, Paul. Sounds like quite the event. I would love to be there---and to see either Megan Mullally or Margaret Cho. Along with Janeane Garofalo (who I plan to stalk when I retire, LOL) they are my favorite female celebs.
10,000 athletes; that's freaking AMAZING!

 

[goatfarmer]

Chicago is a great town! Lots to see and do.

 

[dalangdon]

Eugene, I LOVE Janeane Garofalo! I'm so bummed she's not going to be on Air America anymore. Can I stalk her with you?

If anyone is looking for stuff to do in Chicago, definitely check out the Museum of Science and Industry. Visit the submarine, check out the coal mine, and go aboard the Pioneer Zephyr. That museum made a huge impression on me when I was a kid, and I still like to go see it when I'min Chicago.

Home

Welcome to the Griffin Museum of Science and Industry—one of the largest science centers in the Western Hemisphere.

www.msichicago.org

 

[automagic]

UPDATE

The city is a MADHOUSE!! On top of the extra few hundred thousand people, we are in the middle of a heat wave. Last night you could have cut the air with a knife. Between the extra people and the high temp, the bars were like saunas. I missed the opening ceremony’s, but I have friends that said it was awesome, if I can get their pics I'll upload.
Today we tried to go to the Cheerleading completion in Millennium Park but it was to hot and to crowded. Some of my friends stayed.. I was not one of them!! I went shopping, and had a wonderful lunch.
Tonight a good friend of mine is having a BBQ, supposedly someone is friends with two of the swimmers and they are going to bring them along..
I'll let every one know how it goes!
Donnie

 

[frigilux]

Thanks for the update, Donnie. Would love to see those pictures if it works out.

Dan-- Don't even get me started about Janeane's departure from Air America. WAAAAAAH! I've always been a big fan and when a friend and I were discussing retirement plans (although I'm only 47, so it's still far into the future) I told him I was going to stalk JG. We laughed SO hard. At any rate, YES, you are most welcome to join me in my pursuit. It'll be nice to have someone to talk to while we're hiding in the bushes across from her house, LOL.

Even more than Janeane, I LOVE SEATTLE! This will be the first summer in over 20 years I haven't made it to the Emerald City (had to spend vacation money on central A/C, which I'm glad I did, seeing as it's been uber-humid and near 100 here for several days). I'm going to miss SeaFair and my First Thursdsay art crawl the most. Oh, and Bite Of Seattle, too. I was supposed to move to Seattle with friends after college, but my mom was diagnosed with cancer, so I stayed back to take care of her for a year and never wound up moving. I try to get there a couple of times a year and I usually spend several weeks in the summer. Even though I won't make it this year, I'm still running the downtown streets through my mind using the evergreen "Jesus Christ Made Seattle Under Pressure" phrase my friends taught me many years back. They live just south of the zoo on the cusp of the Fremont and Wallingford neighborhoods and I love waking up to the sound of animals in the morning... Well, before I get weepy, I'd better close, LOL!

Eugene

 

[jamiel]

Second on the terrific weekend in Chicago. GO GO GO. If you can get there this week, or next Saturday for the closing (at Wrigley Field), get there. The opening was incredibly powerful and uplifting. I was there helping a friend and his partner put on a party Friday, then my friend ran the Triathlon on Sunday morning (mind you, the opening started at 8 pm Saturday, the "checkin" time for the Triathlon was between 330 am and 530 am (!) on Sunday with a race start of 600 am. OMG was it hot. 3 hrs later he was done with the race...an incredible experience. I can't imagine that the OUT games in Montreal will be any different in 2 weeks, so if MTL is easier, get there.

I found it an incredibly emotional experience (and I'm not an emotional guy) and more than once teared up at just the all-out acceptance which was there.

If you've got the means, go. You won't regret it.

JL

 

[frontaloadotmy]

The T Shirt is from

1986, the body unfortunately, is not!!!

 

[paulg]

I'll be at Wrigley field

I'm a goin' to the closing ceremony at Wrigley Field. Should be fun.

 

[paulg]

Gaymes are over

The GAYMES are over. Closing ceremony at Wrigley Field was nice and not too long. Weather held up and only started to rain after everything was over - as usual in Chicago. Games next stop, Cologne Germany.
It's been a fun week. Although I did not participate in the athletics, I did the opening/closing events and concert scenes. Got me out of the house to enjoy Chicago more.
Aufwiedersehen bis 2010!